Automotive floor mats and floor mats for other vehicles are commonly used to contain spills and shoe-borne debris and to protect the underlying carpet. Vehicle manufactures typically provide such floor mats with or as an optional accessory for these purposes. To prevent slippage of such mats about the floor, auto manufacturers often provide securing means that hold the mat in its intended position. Because such slippage could allow the mat to interfere with operation of the accelerator and brake pedals, such securing means are now required for a mat at the driver's feet.
Each automaker has its own means for securing its mats within its cars, which has heretofore retarded the ability for aftermarket mat manufacturers to offer mats which universally fit to multiple or all cars. To date, retailers have been forced to carry a first selection of mats which are useful in one make of automobile, a second selection useful in a second make, a third selection useful in a third make, etc. Obviously, the retailers have limited shelf space for offering such a wide number of mat selections, so the number of automobile makes for which they offer mats must be limited, the number of selections (colors, styles, etc) for each make must be compromised, and/or the number of pieces kept in inventory must be reduced.
Each automobile model has a differently shaped floor to which the floor mat is expected to fit and conform. There exist in the prior art several vehicular floor mats which provide for trimming by the end-user to best fit the mat within the floor of the intended vehicle. Among those, U.S. Pat. No. 6,794,013 teaches a mat having “relatively thin” flaps which “can be trimmed down with scissors if desired, to achieve the best fit of the floor mat for a particular floor area”, and the WeatherTech “Trim-to-Fit All Vehicle Cargo Mat” (www.amazon.com/WeatherTech-Trim-Vehicle-Cargo-Black/dp/B0003IDE4U8) includes cutting guide lines to assist the end-user in trimming the mat to best fit to the intended vehicle. None of such prior art mats enable or suggest the ability to securely engage the mat with the specific engagement means of the intended vehicle, or provide for secure engagement with the multitude of mat-securing features which vary in position and configuration from automobile to automobile.
There exists a need for reducing the number of mats that a retailer must stock to serve the multitude of automobile makes and models and the similar multitude of securing arrangements, and such is an object of the present invention. There exists a need for reducing the number of mats that an aftermarket manufacturer must offer to serve the multitude of automobile makes and models, and such is an object of the present invention. There exists a need to adapt and customize aftermarket mats to the multitude of automakers' mat securing arrangements and floor shapes, and such is an object of the present invention. Further needs and objects exist which are addressed by the present invention, as may become apparent by the included disclosure of an exemplary embodiment thereof.